Apparatus for removing moisture from the top of capped jars



R. J. VILLAVICENCIO ET AL 3,400,422

Sept. 10, 1968 APPARATUS FOR REMOVING MOISTURE FROM THE TOP OF CAPPE'D JARS 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 24, 1966 INVENTORS RAUL J VILLAVICENCIO ROBERT A. JOHNSON WW4 QM AGENT p 0. 1968 R. J. VILLAVICENCIO ETAL 3,400,422

APPARATUS FOR REMOVING MOISTURE FROM THE TOP OF CAPPED JARS Filed Aug. 24, 1966 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS l5 RAUL J. VILLAVICENCIO BY ROBERT A. JOHNSON AGENT S p 1968 R. .1. VILLAVICENCIO ETAL 3,400,422

APPARATUS FOR REMOVING MOISTURE FROM THE TOP OF CAPPED JAR5 Filed Aug. 24, 1966 4 Sheets-Sheet E INVENTOR- RAUL J. VILLAV/CENCIO ROBERT A JOHNSO Mod/1A 6M AGENT p 10, 1968 R. J. VlLLAVlCENCIQ ETAL 3,400,422

APPARATUS FOR REMOVING MOISTURE FROM THE TOP OF CAPPED JARS Filed Aug. 24} 1966 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 FROM CAPPING MACHINE TO CODE PRINTING DEVICE INVENTORS' RAUL J. V/LLAVICENCIO BY ROBERT A. JOHNRON AGENT United States Patent 3,400,422 APPARATUS FOR REMOVING MOISTURE FROM THE TOP OF CAPPED JARS Raul J. Villavicencio, Chicago, and Robert A. Johnson, Park Ridge, 11]., assignors to Continental Can Company, Inc., New York, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Aug. 24, 1966, Ser. No. 574,797 12 Claims. (Cl. 15-306) This invention relates to the packaging of food products 1n containers, for example, glass jars, that are hermetically sealed by means of a closure such as a metallic closure cap applied to the open end thereof. In the production of such food packages the jars are first filled with product and the filled jars are delivered to a capping machine which applies a metallic cap to the mouth of each jar. In the capping machine steam is used to heat the caps so as to soften the gasket material in the cap, employed to effect a hermetic-seal against the rim that defines the jar mouth. In addition, steam is employed to purge air from the head space that exists above the product level in the jar so that when the cap is applied and tightened on the mouth of the jar a partial vacuum will be created in the container head space when the steam therein condenses. Subsequent to the capping operation it is the practice in the industry to printan identification code on the top forming panel of the caps so that packages produced by a particular production line during a specific production run can later be identified by the printed on code.

In order to successfully print the identification on the caps it is necessary to remove the moisture thereon resulting from steam condensation in the capping machine. Since the capped jars leave the capping machine in spaced apart single file order on a belt conveyor, the moisture can be removed from the top panel of the caps by means of a compressed air nozzle that is fixedly mounted adjacent the conveyor belt in a position to direct a constant air jet across the top panel of the caps as the jars leave the capping machine.

Although such a constant air jet is effective to remove the moisture on the jar caps it is wasteful in the use of compressed air due to the normal spacing of the capped containers on the conveyor and also because the jet remains on during interruptions of the capping oeration during which no containers pass by the nozzle for extended time intervals. Another deficiency experienced with this type of cleaning jet is that occasionally a jar, or a series of jars, passes through the capping machine without having a cap applied thereto. When such uncapped but filled jars pass under the air jet some of the product therein may be blasted out by the air jet, particularly if it is a soft and easily flowable product such as, for example, applesauce. This, of course, is highly undesirable. Such uncapped jars having the product drooling down the exterior side-wall surface thereof must subsequently be removed from the take-away conveyor by an inspector.

An advantage of the Present invention is that means are provided for controlling the operation of the air jet automatically so that the air nozzle will only be activated during intervals when a jar is in position where the jet of compressed :air emanating from the nozzle is efiective to remove moisture from the top panel of the closure cap thereon.

A further advantage or object of the invention is to provide means for detecting the presence of a container and a closure cap on the container as it approaches the vicinity of the air nozzle, effective to Prevent the operation of the :air nozzle whenever a container is present adajcent the nozzle that does not have a closure cap thereon.

A still further object of the invention is to provide means for indicating the presence of an uncapped container adjacent the air nozzle.

An even further advantage of the invention is the pro- 3,400,422 Patented Sept. 10, 1968 ice vision of automatic means for the removal of a detected i ncapped jar adjacent the air nozzle from the production A still further and more specific object of the invention is to provide cleaning means associated with a conveyor for moving filled and capped jars including a compressed air nozzle positioned to direct a jet of compressed air across the top panel of the closure caps to effect the removal of moisture therefrom; means for detecting the presence of a jar adjacent the nozzle; means for detecting whether the jar has a cap applied thereto; means for operating the air nozzle so as to direct a stream of compressed air across the top panel of the closure cap on a jar to remove moisture thereon in response ot signals by the jar and cap detecting means that a jar is present with a cap thereon and for preventing the delivery of compressed air to the nozzle in response to a determination that a detected jar is uncapped; and means associated with the detecting means for automatically removing jars from the conveyor that are determined to be uncapped.

The above and other advantages and objects of the invention will become apparent upon understanding the operation of a preferred form of apparatus in accordance with the invention illustrated in the drawings in which:

FIGURES 1A and 1B when matched along the lines AA and B-B, respectively, thereon combine to show the apparatus in side elevation associated with the electrical control circuitry;

FIGURE 2 is an end elevation view of the apparatus taken along line 22 of FIGURE 1A;

FIGURE 3 is a plan view of the apparatus taken along line 33 of FIGURE 2; and,

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary elevational view at an enlarged scale taken along line 44 of FIGURE 2 showing the relationship of a capped jar with respect to the cleaning nozzle during the operation of the nozzle to remove moisture from the top panel of the cap.

Referring to FIGURES 1A, 2 and 3 of the drawings it will be seen that jars, indicated by the numeral 10, are

conveyed in spaced apart single file order, as indicated by the directional arrows 11, on a constantly moving conveyor belt 12 which delivers the jars from a capping machine (not shown). Prior to delivery to the capping machine the jars 10 are filled with food product, such as applesauce, to the desired level. As previously explained, steam is employed in the capping machine to soften the gasket material in the caps and to purge the air out of the head space above the product just before the caps are sealed onto the container months. As the jars 10 leave the capping machine on the conveyor belt 12, the closure caps 13 thereon are covered with moisture in the form 'of steam condensate which must be removed prior to the application of an identification code to the top panel 14 of the cap. Viewed in FIGURE 1A, a suitable code printing device (not shown) is positioned to the left, further down-stream from the illustrated portion of the conveyor belt 12, and above the path of travel of the capped jars 10, in position to contact and print upon the top panels 14 as they pass thereunder. Associated with the portion of the conveyor belt 12 that lies between the capping machine and the code printing device is the apparatus of the invention, generally indicated at 15, employed to test jars for the presence of caps; clean the top panel of the caps and indicate and reject any jars determined not to have a cap thereon.

Apparatus 15 includes a vertical mounting post 16 which is provided with a reduced diameter threaded lower end portion 17. Threaded end portion 17 fits into a suitable bore 20 in a mounting bracket 21 and a nut 22 is employed to firmly hold the mounting post 16 in a vertical position on the mounting bracket 21. Mounting bracket 21 in turn is secured to a rail 23 of a pair of parallel,

horizontally extending conveyor belt supporting rails 23 and 24 by means of a pair of threaded fasteners 25 and tightening nuts therefor 26. Mounting bracket 21 is provided with a pair of elongated adjusting slots 27 through which the threaded fasteners 25 pass and which provide for vertical adjustment of the mounting bracket 21 on the conveyor belt supporting rail 23.

A second mounting bracket, indicated at 30, is similarly adjustably mounted on the supporting rail 23 by means of threaded fasteners 31 and tightening nuts 32. The mounting bracket is vertically adjustable due to the provision therein of elongated adjusting slots 33 through which the threaded fasteners pass. Mounted on the mounting bracket 30 is an air cylinder unit generally indicated at 34. Air cylinder unit 34 includes a reciprocating piston rod 35, the outer end of which is provided with a contact head 36 made of resilient material such as rubber. It also includes an electrically operated air flow control valve 37 to which compressed air is supplied through a hose 40 and exhausted through a hose 41. The air valve 37 is actuated through a pair of electrical conductors 42 and 43 in a flexible conduit 48. Air cylinder 34 is firmly held in place on the mounting bracket 30 by means of a plurality of threaded fasteners 44.

At its upper end, the vertical mounting post 16 is provided with a downwardly extending rack 45, having gear teeth thereon. Rack 45 fits into an elongated slot 46 provided in the post 16 and is securely fastened in the slot by means of threaded fasteners (not shown). A slide block 47 is provided with a vertically extending bore 50 into which slidingly fits the mounting post 16. Slide block 47 is also provided with a vertical slot 51 in which is positioned a rotatable gear 52. The vertical slot 51 in the slide block 47 slidingly receives the outwardly extending portion of the rack 45 which acts as a key to prevent the slide block from rotating on the post 16. The gear 52 is fixedly mounted on a horizontally disposed shaft 53 which is rotatably journaled in the block 47. Rotation of the shaft 53 and gear 52 is accomplished by means of a hand wheel 54 fixedly attached to the left of the shaft 53 as viewed in FIGURE 3. Since the gear 52 meshes with the rack 45 it will be apparent that rotation of the hand wheel 54 will effect the lowering and raising of the slide block 47 on the mounting post 16 as desired.

Attached to the slide block 47 is a mounting plate 55 that extends above and transversely across the conveyor belt 12. A pair of threaded fasteners 56 is employed to fixedly attach the mounting plate 55 to the slide block 47. In order to maintain the slide block 47 in an adjusted position along the mounting post 16, a friction block 57 (FIGURE 3) is employed. Friction block 57 fits into the vertical slot 51 in the slide block 47 and is urged into frictional engagement with post 16 by tightening the set screw 60 which abuts the back side of the friction block 57. Whenever it is desired to adjust the position of the slide block 47 along the post 16 by means of the hand wheel 54, set screw 60 must first be loosened, then retightened, after the adjustment has been accomplished.

Mounted on the plate 55 is a pair of proximity detectors 61 and 62 which include mounting plates 63 and 64, respectively. Mounting plate 63 includes a pair of adjusting slots 65 while mounting plate 64 includes a similar pair of adjusting slots 66. A pair of threaded fasteners 67 passes through the slots 66 of the mounting plate 64 to fixedly position the proximity detector 62 on the mounting plate 55. In a similar manner, a pair of threaded fasteners passes through the adjusting slots 65 in the mounting plate 63 to fixedly position the proximity detector 61 on the mounting plate 55. Suitably threaded bores (unnumbered) in the mounting plate 55 are provided to receive the threaded fasteners 67 and 70. Whenever it is necessary or desirable to vertically adjust the position of the proximity detectors 61 and 62 with respect to plate 55 it is merely necessary to loosen the threaded fasteners 67 and 70 and vertically reposition the proximity detectors to the desired locations after which the threaded fasteners 67 and 70 are again tightened.

Four electrical conductors designated 71, 72, 73, and 74 in FIGURE 1A form the proximity detector 61, which are in a flexible conduit 75, are attached at opposite ends thereof to suitable terminals of an amplifier indicated at 76 in dotted outline in FIGURE 1B. In a similar manner, four electrical conductors 80, 81, 82, and 83 extend from the proximity detector 62 in a flexible conduit 84 and are connected to terminals of a second amplifier 85 also indicated in dotted outline in FIGURE 1B.

Attached to the right end of the mounting plate 55 as viewed in FIGURE 3, such as by welding, is a plate 86 which in turn has a stop-block 87 welded thereto. A pivotable arm 90 is pivotably connected to the plate 86 by means of a shouldered screw 91. The pivotable arm 90 is of generally L-shaped configuration and the upwardly extending portion thereof is provided with a stop screw 92 while the horizontally extending portion thereof is provided with a proximity detector actuating arm 93 made of the same metal as the caps. Lock nuts 94 are employed to lock the stop screw 92 in a desired adjusted position with the end thereof making contact with the stop-block 87. A pair of threaded fasteners is employed as indicated at 95 to secure the actuating arm 93 to a downwardly slanting surface of the generally horizontally extending portion of the L-shaped pivotable arm 90. A jar sensing arm 96 formed into an L-shape from heavy gauge wire is fixedly mounted on the pivotable arm 90 by means of a clamp plate 97 secured to the pivotable arm 90 by means of threaded fasteners 100 as best seen in FIGURES 1A and 4. The jar sensing arm 96 has a horizontally extending jar contacting portion 101 that extends into the path of the jars 10 on the conveyor 12.

Also mounted on the mounting plate 55 is an electrically operated air valve unit indicated generally by the numeral 102. Air valve unit 102 includes an air valve portion 103 and valve operating solenoid portion 104. A fiexible hose 105 is employed to deliver compressed air to the valve portion 103 of the valve unit 102. Also connected to the valve portion 103 by means of a suitable threaded fastener 106 is an air nozzle 107 having a horizontally directed rectangular shaped air delivery tip 110. The air delivery tip 110 is positioned slightly to one one side of the path of travel of the jars and slightly above the top panel surface 14 of the closure caps 13 so as to direct a jet of air transversely across the top panel with respect to the direction of travel of the conveyor belt 12. The valve unit 102 is fixedly mounted on the mounting plate 55 by means of a pair of threaded fasteners 111 that pass through openings therein and thread into threaded bores provided in the valve portion 103. Referring to FIGURES 1A and 13 it will be seen that a pair of electrical conductors 112 and 113 in a flexible conduit 114 connect the solenoid portion 104 of the valve unit 102, respectively, to contacts 115 of the amplifier 70 and to an electrical energy supply conductor 116.

Conductors 42 and 43 from the electrically operated air flow valve 37 connect, respectively, to a set of contacts 117 in the amplifier 76 and to the electrical energy supply conductor 116. As shown in FIGURE 1A, an indicating light 120 and a warning horn 121 are connected across the conductors 42 and 43.

Referring to FIGURE IE it will be seen that a conductor 122 connects the contacts 117 with a set of contacts 123 of the amplifier 85 and a conductor 124 connects the contacts 123 with an electrical energy supply conductor 125. A conductor 126 connects the contacts 115 with a set of contacts 127 in the amplifier 85. The contacts 127 are connected to the supply conductor by means of a conductor 130.

Energy is supplied to the amplifier 76 by the line conductors 131 and 132. The electrical energy supplied may be the usual 110 volt 60 cycle house current. Amplifier 85 is likewise energized from the line conductors 131 and 132 through the conductors 116 and 125 and 133 and 134. A sensitivity adjustment 135 is provided in the ampliler 76 and a similar sensitivity adjustment 136 is provided in the ampliuer 85.

The proximity detectors 61 and 62 are a type available commercially from Micro-Switch Division of Minneapolis Honeywell Regulator Company of Freeport, 111., U.S.A., and are identified by No. 4FBl for detecting ferrous metal caps and by No. 6FS1 for detecting nonferrous metal caps. The amplifiers 76 and 85 for use with these detectors are also available from the same manufacturer and are identified by No. 20FC-1 for use with detector No. 4FB1 and No. 20FL-1 for use with detector No. 6FS1.

As shown only in FIGURES 2 and 3, a horizontally disposed jar receiving tray 137 is positioned adjacent the conveyor belt 12 to receive uncapped jars pushed from the belt 12 by the operation of the air cylinder unit 34. Suitable angle brackets 140 attached by threaded fasteners 141 to the conveyor supporting rail 24 are employed to support the tray 137.

With the description of the parts and part arrangement of the apparatus now having been completed the operation thereof will best be understood by the following explanation.

Operation As the capped containers 10 are delivered from the capping machine in single file space relationship on the belt conveyor 12, the cap 13 of a capped jar, or the jar mouth of an uncapped jar, first makes contact with the jar contacting portion 101 of the jar sensing arm 96. The jar contacting portion of the jar sensing arm 96 extends transversely part way across the conveyor belt 12 and it lies in a plane that is parallel to the conveyor belt. Prior to commencing operation, the height of the jar contacting portion 101 of the jar sensing arm 96 has to be adjusted by means of the hand wheel 54 so that it is initially contacted by the cap skirt of a capped jar or by the outside surface of the jar just below the mounth defining rim thereof. As the capped, or uncapped jar, as the case may he, moves in the direction of the arrow 11 under the proximity detector 61 the horizontal jar contacting portion 101 of the jar sensing arm 96 rides across the top panel 14 of the cap 13 or across the uncapped mouth of a jar 10 resulting in the clockwise rotation of the pivotable arm 90 on the shouldered screw 91 as shown in FIG- URE 4. This rotation of the arm 90 brings the proximity detector actuating arm 93 up into close proximity to the proximity detector 62 as shown in FIGURE 4 and in phantom outline in FIGURE 1A. When in this position it causes an electrical signal to be generated by the proximity detector 62 to signal the presence of a jar under the detector 61. By threading the stop screw 92 in a direction toward the stop block 87 the initial position of the pivotable arm 90 can be moved clockwise from that illustrated in FIGURE 1A and the proximity detector actuating arm 93 will likewise initially be revolved clockwise about the shouldered screw 91 toward the phantom outline position. The screw 92 is adjusted so that the jar contacting portion 101 of the arm 96 does not swing the detector actuating arm all the way up to actuate the detector 62 until after the jar cap is detected by the detector 61. Once the screw 92 has been adjusted as desired, a jar is placed in position as shown in FIGURE 4 and the proximity detector 62 is vertically adjusted by means of adjjusting slots 66 until it is close enough to the detector actuating arm 93 when it is in its full clockwise position to satisfactorily detect the presence of the metal actuating arm adjacent thereto. The proximity detector 61 is similarly positioned vertically by loosening the threaded fasteners 70 in the slots 65 so that it is close enough to the top panel 14 of the cap 13 to detect the presence of the metal top panel adjacent thereto and to generate a satisfactory electrical signal as a result of the close proximity of the panel thereto. The signal level output of the detectors 61 and 62 may be finally adjusted by means of the sensitivity adjustments 135 and 136 on the amplifiers 76 and 35. Once the vertical positioning of the proximity detectors has been established and the best location of the adjusting screw 92 for eflicient operation with a jar of a particular height it will not be necessary to disturb these adjustments when changing over to operations with jars of different heights; the only adjustment then being necessary is made by means of hand wheel 54.

During operation of the apparatus it will now be assumed that a properly capped jar will have arrived at the position shown in FIGURE 4. The proximity detector 61 will detect the close proximity of the top panel 14 of the closure cap 13 and will deliver a signal via conductors 7174 to the amplifier 76 resulting in the closing of the normally open contacts 115 and the opening of the normally closed contacts 117 of the amplifier 76. Shortly after the cap is detected the arm 93 is swung into close proximity to the proximity detector 62 causing it to likewise deliver a signal via the conductors 80-83 to the amplifier 85. This results in the closing of the normally open contacts 123 and 127 of the amplifier 85. The prior opening of the contacts 117 prevents the formation of a complete electrical circuit to the air cylinder unit 34 that would otherwise result when the contacts 123 close. The opening of contacts 117 thus prevents the operation of the air cylinder unit 34. The closing of contacts 115 and 127 forms a complete electrical circuit from line conductor 131 energizing conductor 125, conductor 130 contacts 127, conductor 126 contacts 115 conductor 112, valve operating solenoid portion 104 of the electrically operated air valve unit 102 conductor 113 energizing conductor 116 to line conductor 132. The valve operating solenoid portion 104 of the electrically operated air valve unit 102 is thus energized resulting in the operation of the valve portion thereof 103 to assume an open position permitting the delivery of compressed air through the air hose 105 to the air nozzle 107. Air under pressure is thus delivered by means of the air delivery tip 110 in the form of a jet across the top panel 14 of the closure cap 13 with the effect that any moisture thereon is blown off before the capped jar is delivered to the code printing device.

Now assume that an uncapped jar is delivered on the conveyor belt 12 under the proximity detector 61. In this case since no cap is detected by the proximity detector 61 there will be no signal delivered thereby via the conductors 7174 to the amplifier 76 with the result that the normally open contacts 115 therein will remain open and the normally closed contacts 117 will remain closed. As the jar moves into the position shown in FIGURE 4, the jar contacting portion 101 of the jar sensing arm 96 will ride up and across the jar mouth resulting in the revolving of the proximity detector actuating arm 93 up into close proximity to the proximity detector 62. The close proximity of the proximity detector actuating arm 93 will thus be detected by the detector 62 and a signal delivered thereby via the conductors 80-83 to the amplifier with the result that the normally open contacts 123 and 127 will close. The fact that contacts 115 remain open prevents the formation of a complete electrical circuit through the air valve unit 102 that would otherwise occur when contacts 127 closed. This results in the valve portion 103 remaining in its normally closed position in which it blocks the delivery of compressed air from the hose 105 to the nozzle 107 so that no compressed air will be jetted across the open mouth of the uncapped container under test which might result in product being objectionably blown from within the container. Due to the fact that the normally closed contacts 117 remained closed, a completed electrical circuit is formed through the electrically operated air valve 37 of the air cylinder unit 34 upon the closing of the contacts 123 with the result that air valve 37 is operated to a position resulting in the outward projection of the piston rod 35 causing the contact head 36 to strike the side wall of the jar under test and push the jar from the conveyor 12 onto the tray 137. The piston rod 35 will automatically retract after the jar has been removed from the conveyor 12, as the jar sensing arm 96 will then have dropped down from its raised position to its initial starting position which results in the proximity detector actuating arm 93 dropping away from detector 62. This terminates the signal via the conductors 8083 to the amplifier 85 resulting in the opening of the contacts 123 to break the electrical circuit completed through the air valve 37. The breaking of the circuit through the air valve 37 results in the valve assuming its starting position at which it causes compressed air to be directed so as to result in the retraction of the piston rod 35 out of the path of the jars on the conveyor 12.

Simultaneously with the energizing and de-energizing of the air valve via the conductors 42 and 43, the signal light 120 and the horn 121 will be caused to go on and then go off again signalling the operator that an uncapped jar was detected and pushed off onto the tray 137. The operator can then remove the uncapped jar and place it on the conveyor leading to the capping machine so that a cap will be applied thereto.

In order to prevent an uncapped jar from tipping over when it is being pushed off of the conveyor 12 by the contact head 36, the level of the contact head 36 is priorly adjusted depending upon the height of the jars being run so that it contacts the side wall of the jar at a point slightly below the center of gravity of the jar. This adjustment is accomplished by means of the elongated adjustment slots 33 provided in the mounting bracket 30 through which the threaded fasteners 31 fit.

Although a preferred form of the invention has been illustrated and described, it Will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the illustrated apparatus may be considerably modified with respect to the specific construction details thereof while still performing in the same general manner just described. The invention is therefore not intended to be limited to the specific features of the illustrated embodiment but rather as set forth in the following claims.

We claim:

1. Apparatus for cleaning closure caps on filled and capped containers being moved therepast in single file spaced apart order on 'a conveyor, comprising: closure cap detecting means adjacent the conveyor for detecting and signalling the presence of the cap on a capped container; detecting means adjacent the conveyor for detecting and generating a signal to indicate the presence of a container adjacent the closure cap detecting means; cleaning means operable to perform a cleaning operation on the closure caps; and control means for operating the cleaning means in response to signals received from the detecting means; said control means being responsive to operate the cleaning means to perform a cleaning operation only when a signal is received thereby from the closure detecting means that a cap is present adjacent thereto and from the container detecting means indicating the presence of a container adjacent the cap detecting means.

2. Apparatus 'as set forth in claim 1 in which the closure cap detecting means is a proximity detector capable of detecting metal containing objects in the immediate vicinity thereof; the closure caps being made of or including a metal detectable thereby.

3. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 in which the cleaning means comprises an air nozzle and a valve for controlling delivery of compressed air to the nozzle; the valve being operated by the said control means.

4. Apparatus as set forth in claim 2 in which the container detecting means includes a proximity detector capable of detecting metal containing objects in the immediate vicinity thereof.

5. Apparatus as set forth in claim 4 in which the container detecting means includes a swingable container sensing arm having swingably associated therewith a metallic proximity detector actuating arm; said swingable container sensing arm being swung by contact with a container as it arrives adjacent the closure cap detecting means resulting in a corresponding swinging of the proximity detector actuating arm into close proximity to the proximity detector of the container detecting means so as to be detected thereby, resulting in the development of a signal by the container detecting proximity detector to signal the control means that a container is present adjacent the cap detecting means.

6. Apparatus as set forth in claim 5 in which the control means also has associated therewith for operation thereby; means to indicate the presence of an uncapped container adjacent the cap detecting means; said operation of the indicating means by the control means being effected by a signal to the control means from hte container detecting means that a container is present adjacent the cap detecting means while no cap present signal from the cap detecting means is being delivered to the control means.

7. Apparatus as set forth in claim 6 in which the control means has additionally associated therewith for operation thereby; means to remove an uncapped container from conveyor; said operation of the container removing means being effected by a signal to the control means from the container detecting means that container is present adjacent the cap detecting means while no cap present signal from the cap detecting means is being delivered to the control means.

8. Apparatus as set forth in claim 7 in which the container removing means comprises a fluid cylinder.

9. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 in which the control means also has associated therewith, for operation thereby; means to remove an uncapped container from the conveyor; said operation of the container removing means being effected by a signal to the control means from the container detecting means that a container is present adjacent the cap detecting means while no cap present signal from the cap detecting means is being delivered to the control means.

10. Apparatus as set forth in claim 9 in which the container removing means comprises a fluid cylinder.

11. Apparatus as set forth in claim 10 in which the cleaning means comprises an air nozzle and a valve for controlling delivery of compressed air to the nozzle; the valve being operated by the said control means.

12. Apparatus as set forth in claim 11 in which the control means also has associated therewith for operation thereby simultaneously with the operation of the container removal means; indicating means to indicate the removal of an uncapped container from the conveyor.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,501,367 3/1950 Wehmiller et a] 15-306 3,018,594 1/ 1962 Phillips et al 52-72 3,040,493 6/1962 Wheaten 53167 ROBERT W. MICHELL, Primary Examiner. 

1. APPARATUS FOR CLEANING CLOSURE CAPS ON FILLED AND CAPPED CONTAINERS BEING MOVED THEREPAST IN SINGLE FILE SPACED APART ORDER ON A CONVEYOR, COMPRISING: CLOSURE CAP DETECTING MEANS ADJACENT THE CONVEYOR FOR DETECTING AND SIGNALLING THE PRESENCE OF THE CAP ON A CAPPED CONTAINER; DETECTING MEANS ADJACENT THE CONVEYOR FOR DETECTING AND GENERATING A SIGNAL TO INDICATE THE PRESENCE OF A CONTAINER ADJACENT THE CLOSURE CAP DETECTING MEANS; CLEANING MEANS OPERABLE TO PERFORM A CLEANING OPERATION ON THE CLOSURE CAPS; AND CONTROL MEANS FOR OPERATING THE CLEANING MEANS IN RESPONSE TO SIGNALS RECEIVED FROM THE DETECTING MEANS; SAID CONTROL MEANS BEING RESPONSIVE TO OPERATE THE CLEANING MEANS TO PERFORM A CLEANING OPERATION ONLY WHEN A SIGNAL IS RECEIVED THEREBY FROM THE CLOSURE DETECTING MEANS THAT A CAP IS PRESENT ADJACENT THERETO AND FROM THE CONTAINER DETECTING MEANS INDICATING THE PRESENCE OF A CONTAINER ADJACENT THE CAP DETECTING MEANS. 